Tiempo Secure's Unique IP Expertise Required to Secure First Post Quantum Sovereignty Chip

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Dec. 21, 2023 – 

Grenoble, France – December 21, 2023 – Tiempo Secure is proud to announce that we were selected to work on the µPQRS (Post Quantum, Secure, Resilient, and Sovereign Security Microprocessor) project, sponsored by the French State. Cybersecurity plays a key role in Europe’s economic security at the advent of new post-quantum challenges for attack protection. The Cyber Resilience Act introduces new European Union cybersecurity rules and requirements to improve the level of security of all hardware and software used in digital products, from the design and development phase right through their complete life cycle. Tiempo Secure has been working behind the scenes and leveraging its unique know-how and expertise, to test viable solutions in response to this strategic sovereignty issue.

The goal of the µPQRS project is to develop an innovative flexible security chip based on the RISC-V architecture, consisting of two subsystems – a low-power secure enclave and a high-performance microprocessor unit (MPU), for Eviden’s data encryption products. Both subsystems will work concurrently to address the most demanding secure applications, including banking, electronic identity, government, defense, etc. By using a set of quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms, the secure enclave will manage the secure boot and guarantee continued security levels while the MPU manages the applications and the surrounding execution environment.

The secure enclave will also act like an integrated hardware security module (HSM), providing cryptographic services to the MPU. The chip will include an embedded field programmable gate array (eFPGA), to manage future evolutions of cryptography standards and/or new I/O interfaces. The secure enclave will be capable of managing these evolutions and will provide security for the complete life cycle of the chip, in addition to test and debugging interference protection. This specific secure enclave will be designed to reach a Common Criteria EAL5+ certification level.

The µPQRS project represents an overall budget of €10 million and it received financial support from the French Public Investment Bank – Bpifrance. In line with Bpifrance’s policy to support French sovereignty in strategic industry sectors, all the private and public stakeholders in the project are French. This ensures the safeguarding of technology for strategic French civil and defense applications.

Marc Renaudin, Tiempo Secure’s co-founder, and Chief Technology Officer commented, “We are very proud to be part of the µPQRS project, which confirms our commitment to French sovereignty initiatives. In addition, we will leverage this project to further develop our expertise in architecture design, to increase the reliability and performance levels of our secure solutions”.

The µPQRS project consortium includes:

• Tiempo Secure – a pre-certified embedded Secure IP provider
• Eviden, an Atos business – a leading provider of data encryption products
• Menta, a specialist in eFPGA
• Synacktiv – an expert in offensive cyber security
• Institut Fourier – a mathematics laboratory at Grenoble University, focusing on pre and post-quantum cryptography/computing
• LIRMM – a computer science, robotics, and microelectronics laboratory in Montpellier, focusing on trojan horse detection

Tiempo Secure is a leading French DeepTech cybersecurity player, specializing in the design of IP solutions and key secure elements, for strategic embedded security systems (IoT, Mobile, Automotive, Medical, Payment, Defense, Smart Grid…). Located near Grenoble and the French Alps, Tiempo is part of the high-tech ecosystem at the heart of Inovallée. Its user-driven innovation mindset and strong international customer base are key to its success. Backed by private investment companies, in a very dynamic cybersecurity market, the company is growing fast to secure the ever-increasing number of connected devices.

For more information: www.tiempo-secure.com

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